UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State Director of Athletics Dave Joyner and Virginia Tech Athletic Director Jim Weaver today announced the first gridiron meeting between the Nittany Lions and Hokies.
Penn State will visit Blacksburg on Sept. 17, 2022 and Virginia Tech will travel to Beaver Stadium on Sept. 16, 2023. Earlier this week, the Nittany Lions announced their first meeting with San Diego State, which will take place Sept. 26, 2015 in State College.
"We are excited to be able to announce this football series with Virginia Tech," Joyner said. "Virginia Tech is an opponent our alumni and fans have been asking about adding to the schedule. I am very appreciative of the efforts of Jim Weaver to make this long-awaited match-up come to fruition."
Despite having campuses located less than 375 miles apart, Penn State and Virginia Tech have never met. The Nittany Lions have played Virginia (5-3), VMI (1-0) and William & Mary (4-0) from The Old Dominion, earning a cumulative 10-3 on-field record.
Virginia Tech AD Jim Weaver earned bachelor's (1967) and master's degrees (1968) from Penn State, playing center and linebacker for the Nittany Lions. A native of Harrisburg, Weaver began his coaching career with the Nittany Lions as a graduate assistant (1967-68) and was an assistant coach from 1969-72.
Virginia Tech will be the 13th Atlantic Coast Conference institution Penn State has played on the gridiron, with Duke the only other ACC team the Nittany Lions have not played. Penn State will open this season vs. Syracuse in the Orange's first game as an ACC member and played at Virginia last year.
Penn State has a 181-87-11 all-time on-field record vs. current ACC teams: Boston College (19-4), Clemson (0-1), Florida State (1-1-1), Georgia Tech (4-3), Maryland (35-1-1), Miami (7-6), North Carolina (0-1), North Carolina State (17-2), Pitt (50-42-4), Syracuse (42-23-5), Virginia (5-3), Wake Forest (1-0).
Penn State completed a two-game series in 2011 with Alabama, the BCS National Champion the past two years. During the 2012 season, Virginia returned to the Nittany Lions' slate. Kent State, ranked No. 25 in the final 2012 BCS standings, will visit Beaver Stadium on Sept. 21, 2013. The Nittany Lions and long-time rival Syracuse played in 2008-09 and will meet in the 2013 season opener on August 31 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
Long-time rivals Penn State and Pitt will meet every season from 2016-19. The Nittany Lions will play in Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2018 and the Panthers will play in State College in 2017 and 2019.
Penn State's regular season non-conference opponents during the past 12 years include: Pitt (2000), Southern California (2000), Miami, Fla. (2001), Southern Miss (2001), Virginia (2001-02, 2012), UCF (2002, '04), Boston College (2003-04), South Florida (2005), Cincinnati (2005), Notre Dame (2006-07), Oregon State (2008), Syracuse (2008-09), Alabama (2010-11) and Ohio (2012). The Nittany Lions also played Nebraska in 2002-03 before the Cornhuskers joined the Big Ten in 2011 and became Penn State's annual divisional crossover opponent.
Penn State is in the midst of training camp for its second season under head coach Bill O'Brien, who was the 2012 Bear Bryant, Maxwell Football Club and ESPN National Coach of the Year and the Big Ten-Dave McClain Coach of the Year. The Nittany Lions posted an 8-4 overall mark in 2012, winning eight of their final 10 games, and finished second in the Big Ten Leaders Division with a 6-2 record.
O'Brien's squad returns 16 starters and 37 letterwinners for Penn State's 127th season. The Nittany Lions will host three teams that finished in the 2012 BCS Top 25: Michigan (Oct. 12-Homeoming), Nebraska (Nov. 23) and Kent State (Sept. 21).
The Nittany Lions will be featured on ESPN's Penn State: Training Days, starting Friday, Aug. 16 on SportsCenter for five consecutive nights leading up to the one-hour program on Tuesday, Aug. 20 at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
Season and single tickets are available for the 2013 campaign. Single game tickets, including tickets for the Nov. 16-17 Kickoff to Tipoff package, are available at www.GoPSUsports.com/tickets or 1-800-NITTANY.